Just as Much

Niall's POV



“Niall!” Ashton drags out my name.



“Hey mate.” I quickly usher them all in saying hello to each of them. “How have you guys been?”



“Good, but we're tired.” Calum kicks his bag deeper into the hallway. “Where are we staying?” He asks.



“Um, well, the two guest bedrooms. You'll just have to split two in one room and two in another.” I explain as I point.



“So whose this girl you have staying with you that Ashton's been talking about?” Luke asks as the others put their bags away.



“It's Erica.” I shrug my shoulders, acting like its nothing.



“The Erica you've talked about for years?” He starts to smile.



“I haven't talked about her for years.” Lies. “Her flat had a fire, well her whole building had a fire so I offered my place. We're leaving on Sunday anyway.”



“So where is she?” Michael appears out of nowhere, looking around. “Where is she staying?"



“Um, well she's been staying in the back room across from mine.” I fumble around.



“The room where Calum and Luke are staying in?” Michael informs me.



“Uh yeah.” Shit.



“So where is she staying?” Ashton comes back to join in our conversation. Saved by the door, Erica comes in through the garage just when I thought she would.



“Hey Niall!” She shouts out before she even looks to see me. I feel Michael hit my chest and when I look at him all he's doing is giving me non-verbal crap about Erica.



“She's pretty.” Calum whispers closer to me and I just push him away. I watch as Erica slips her shoes off and picks them up, throwing her hair over her shoulder.



“Oh, hello.” She finally looks up and sees us all staring at her. That's not awkward at all. I forget that Erica has never met all of them before, this is the first they've been to my house.



“Erica this is Five Seconds of Summer. That's Calum, Michael, Luke, and Ashton.” I point to them all as they make head or hand gestures. “Guys, this is Erica.”



“Nice to finally met you all. Love your music.” She smiles. “I've got to go put my stuff down, I'll be right back.” She tells us as we part and let her pass by. She really does get dressed up for classes.



“I'll be right back.” I tell the guys as I follow her down the hall. “Erica!” I shuffle my feet after her.



“Yeah?” She asks, pausing in the doorway, I can only assume she sees their stuff on the floor.



“So, have a slight problem. I told the lads a long time ago they could stay here, before you got here.” I start.



“Oh, well I can see if I can stay at Allison's.” She suggests without blinking an eye.



“No, you don't have to do that. You can just sleep in my room.” I throw it out there before I become too nervous.



“Well where will you sleep?” She leans against the door frame and crosses her arms.



“I can sleep on the couch.” I shrug my shoulders.



“I can't have you do that Niall. You're leaving for tour on Sunday, you sleep like crap in those hotels and buses, you need good sleep. I'll sleep on the couch.” She's always putting someone else first.



“No, we're going to be up late, I already know it. Plus I need to get used to Columbia time.” I'm not going to suggest what I think.



“So, we could stay in the bed together?” She asks confused as to what to do with the news, her face contorted and nervous.



“We could." I'm all too eager. "I mean, it's a king sized bed. We're friends right?” I laugh, awkward laugh. Way to be cool Niall.



“Yeah, that's fine.” She smiles. “Just let me get some things from my room and pull the sheets off the bed to wash them so the guys have fresh linens.” She drops her bag and puts it just inside my room before leaving me in the hallway. I'm sleeping in the same bed as Erica.


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After lounging on the couch for what seems like hours we finally decided to eat.



“I'll just order pizza. What do you guys want?” I ask, pulling my phone out and searching for the number.



“Pepperoni.” Calum throws out there.



“Four cheese.” Ashton answers.



“What about Erica?” Luke asks, Erica has stayed in my room since she basically got here. She came out with the sheets to wash them and then disappeared.



“I know what she likes, its fine. She tends to read when she gets home from classes.” I shrug my shoulders like it's no big deal.



“Home?” Michael asks, giving me that all knowing look.



“Well, I mean, she's staying here so obviously it's her home right now.” I write down what everyone wants so I don't forget when I order.



“Does she pay for anything?” Luke asks.



“The house is paid for. She can take over utilities while I'm not here but to be honest, it's not like I don't make enough to pay for everything.” I don't understand what the big deal is.



“So she's staying here for free?” Calum raises his eyebrows up and down.



“It's not that big of a deal guys. She cleans the house, does my errands, and she's good company so yeah, she's staying here for free.” I'm getting a little defensive for no real reason.



“So, you going after her?” Calum asks me.



“No, were just friends. We've been friends for years.” I act almost offended. Truth is, I'd be lucky for someone like Erica to go after me.



“So I can go after her?” Ashton's lips form a wide grin.



“No!” I stand up abruptly, answering way to quickly.



“Yeah, just friends my ass Niall.” Ashton rolls his eyes as I walk out of the living room to order pizza.



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“Pizza's here!” I pull the boxes in and set them on the counter. “I'll go get Erica.” Luke nods to me as I walk past him down the hall. Once I get to my room I see Erica, perched up on the bed, legs folded in an awkward position, head buried in a book. “Erica.” She snaps her head up to me.



“Hey.” Smiling and putting a book mark in her spot.



“What are you reading?” I asks coming in and sitting next to her on the bed. Just in the last week, we've gotten a lot closer and more comfortable with each other.



“It's the Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant.” She shows me the cover and I for sure hide my missing enthusiasm. “It's required for class, philosophy isn't my strongest point.”



“So what's this one about?” I ask.



“I'm struggling a bit with this one, I've just started reading but so far I'm getting that Kant discussed that Hume, another philosopher, stopped short on synthetic judgment and rejected analytical methods saying that analytic reasoning can't tell us anything that is not already self-evident. He argues for synthetic reasoning saying that it doesn't have to be based on empirical observation.”



“What?” I ask, completely confused.



“Exactly. This is why I read these books a few times.” She groans and leans back on the bed.



“I ordered pizza. You have all weekend to read your book, come hang out with us.” I pull on her arm.



“I don't want to impose.” She looks up at me.



“Impose. Come on, we all want to hang out. Hurry up before all the pizza is gone.” I successfully pull her off the bed. “Help me pack tomorrow?” I ask as we're walking down the hall.



“Don't I always?” I see that exaggerated eye roll and chuckle.



“Hey Erica!” Ashton calls out. “So we'll still be here when Niall leaves for South America, want to hang out?” He asks and I all but rip a hole in my lip, I'm biting it so hard. I don't want them hanging out. I know I'm glaring at him but I don't care, Erica can't see my face.



“Yeah, that would be great.” Erica smiles as I gently usher her into the kitchen for pizza, trying to get her away from the guys at the table.



“I got us a capricciosa pizza.” I point to the unopened box as she smiles and hands me a plate while I give her a slice and take two for myself.



The two spots left at the table are thankfully next to each other as we pick at our pizzas.



“Um, what are you guys doing?” Luke asks, his face slightly disgusted.



“Well Niall likes mushrooms and I don't, so he gets my mushrooms.” Erica explains picking the last of it off and passing it to my plate.



“And I don't like olives but Erica does, so she gets mine.” I shrug my shoulders like it's no big deal, we always do this if we get pizza.



“You two are so weird.” Michael shakes his head as the table falls silent and everyone eats their pizza.

Notes

Hey, hey, hey!!

Love this chapter if I do say so myself. Maybe one day they'll realize their affection...thoughts? What do you think of the two? They're quickly becoming my favorite "couples" I've written!

Hope everyone one had a great holiday!!

Thanks for for voting, subscribing, commenting, and of course...reading!!!

xoxox